George Thuronyi from the Library of Congress speaks with Eric Weiner, who appeared at the 2016 National Book Festival on September 24 in Washington, D.C.

Eric Weiner is author of New York Times best-seller “The Geography of Bliss,” which has been translated into 18 languages. A former correspondent for NPR in New Delhi, Jerusalem and Tokyo, he has reported for The New York Times and filed stories from more than three dozen countries. His work has also appeared in New Republic, Slate, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and the anthology “Best American Travel Writing.” His new book is “The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World’s Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley.”